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Series Introduction
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THE PARABLES OF
JESUS, #040
A Chronological
Study
"To Him who
opened His mouth in parables and
uttered things
hidden since the creation of the world."
Psalm 78:2
"The Faithful VS The Wicked Servant"
Matthew 24:42-51; Mark 13:34-37; Luke
21:34-36
INTRODUCTION
This parable is in the last chapters of the book of Matthew and
Mark. We’ll also look at Luke for a fitting closure of this parable.
Here in these last chapters the context concerns Jesus teaching
about Israel and the coming future day when the Lord is going to
return to them. He has told them, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills
the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I
wanted to gather
your
children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
and you were unwilling. Behold,
your
house is being left to you desolate! For I say to
you,
from now on
you
will not see
Me
until
you
say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” [Mt.
23:37-39].
Jesus is speaking about His second coming in this parable and 3
others in Matthew in Chapter 23 & 24. He’s not addressing the
Church’s Rapture as that information was given by the Apostles much
later after His ascension.
We also need to note that throughout the Old Testament the idea of
the “Household” is most always a comment concerning the nation of
Israel.
THE FAITHFUL VS THE WICKED SERVANT
THE FULL TEXT OF EACH OCCURRENCE
We’ll first look at all the text we’ll be considering. This will
give us a good overview, allowing us to focus on individual ideas in
our discussion.
Matthew
24:42-51
[NASB]
42
“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord
is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the head of
the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming,
he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house
to be broken into. 44 For this reason you also must be
ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think
He will.
Mark 13:34-37
Luke
21:34-36
THE TEXT
We have
three texts to explore – the first (Matthew 24:42-51), concerns
Israel and its future for blessing VS it’s future for judgment and
condemnation.
We’ll
start with Jesus’ introduction in Matthew 24 and verse 42-44.
42
“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord
is coming.
Jesus had just told them that
He was going away, and that the days ahead will be just like the
days of Noah – as usual and full of people who refuse to know the
Lord God. Nothing to look forward to as an indication of His return
– except those days will get worse and worse, and there will come a
time when evil things are building up so fast that you will be sure
of… like seeing trees starting to bloom, “Summer”… His return, will
be imminent.
43
But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what
time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the
alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
Then He
says to them a quick little parable. The Head of the HOUSEHOLD and
the THIEF. This little metaphor is about a man looking after his
“household,” Israel, and a thief. This is one of those times when
it’s a good idea to remind ourselves that often the details of a
parable can’t be stressed strongly – or you will miss the point of
the parable.
We have
Israel as the Household, the key subject of His story. The thief is
providing a lesson about the household knowing that he was going to
come and attempt a burglary… into the owner’s home… the owner would
be ready for him, and the burglary would not take place.
OK, now
we’re done with the thief and the burglary, now Jesus’ lesson:
Mt. 24:44-51
44
For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming
at an hour when you do not think He will.
Jesus
is coming back, and they know He is because He told them so, but not
when. Therefore, they must ALWAYS be ready for His return.
I’ll repeat a necessary idea. Jesus is
referring to His 2nd
coming to the nation of Israel, on earth, post Tribulation. He’s not
talking about His return to the “Air,” the Rapture. He’s addressing
the Jews of Israel, not the members of the Church. The lesson
learned is similar for each, however.
Now we
move on to discuss two different kinds of servants in charge of the
Household, Israel. So, we ask ourselves, “Who are the servants in
charge of the household Jesus is talking about?” This would be the
Priests, Scribes, and the Sanhedrin (Pharisees and Sadducees).
45
“Who then is the faithful and sensible servant whom his master put
in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper
time? 46
Blessed is that servant whom his master finds so doing when he
comes. 47
Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his
possessions.
Jesus
sets up His question by asking His listeners to choose between two
quite different servants. The rhetorical “Who” asks about those who
are the “servants” “Whom his master put in charge.”
Servant Number 1:
We can look at Israel and see that since the time of Jesus’ question
there have been those Jews who God has called to His service among
the people of Israel. Because of them, Jews around the world have
come to know Jesus as their Messiah. They have been giving the
people of their charge the Word of God of both the Old and New
Testaments – “Giving them their food at the proper time.”
Blessed
is each of those servants who has been called of God to do this in
answer to God’s call upon their lives – for the past 2000 years.
“Blessed will be those servants whom Jesus finds doing so when He
returns.” Believing Israel is looking ahead to the time when Jesus
returns to the earth – and finally, they get to establish their
Promised Kingdom and rule their land (the earth) and their People
(Israel).
48
But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming
for a long time,’ 49
and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with
drunkards;
Servant number 2:
We should notice right away two things: First, this servant is evil
and has not been called and not been put in charge of this household
(Israel) by the Master (God). Second, he has an entirely different
“heart” – one of self-inclined immoral activities and has planned
upon “My master is not coming for a long time.”
We can
see by his activities that he is indeed evil. He has taken to
beating those around him who have similar responsibilities and he
takes as his comrades those who are “drunkards.” Their minds are
dull and distant from morality and their God.
We are
therefore left with that other leadership of the nation of Israel –
those who’s intentions are based upon self aggrandizement and
controlling works of unholy law for the people they control. All
trying to worship their god by attempting to please him through
false sacrificial living and the keeping of a rewritten (to their
advantage) Mosaic legal system that seeks to please themselves and
not God.
50
the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect
him and at an hour which he does not know,
The
problem with ignoring the truth around them is that they don’t seem
to believe anything that the prophets proclaimed throughout their
scriptures. It took them nearly 2000 years to re-establish their
nation after its demise in 70 A.D. Since then, they have been
plagued by enemies and wars that are continuing today. They are not
expecting Jesus to return at all – The have no belief in Him and no
intention of any belief.
51
and will cut him (the bad
servant)
in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Here are some tragic and hard words. For
those unbelievers who are alive at the 2nd
coming of Jesus – at the end of the Tribulation – they will only
find God’s judgment awaiting them. Everything they have will be torn
from them (not speaking of cutting the people into pieces), every
responsibility, every relationship, every supposed honor – all cut
away and removed. They will be assigned a place with the
“hypocrites,” those who are professing to be loving God and
believing in Him but don’t. Then… because of God’s judgment upon
them for believing He does not exist – they will be sentenced to
eternal judgment, that place that is called “Hell.” That place of
weeping, and gnashing of teeth, for eternity.
Now on to our second Gospel:
Mark 13:34-37
Jesus’s
death, Mark says, is like a man who has gone away on a journey. This
man is a householder – again a reference to the fact that Jesus
(God) is the owner of the nation of Israel. As we said a little
earlier, He has put His servants (those charged with doing His work)
his Israelites who belong to Him, in charge of doing His work in His
Household (Israel). One of His servants was especially put in charge
of the security (the doorkeeper) of His Household – and he is also
commanded to “Stay on the alert.” Everyone of His servants has been
given a “task” to be done in His absence.
35
Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of
the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when
the rooster crows, or in the morning—
36
in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep.
Jesus
is thorough in describing when they should be on the alert because
no one knows when He is coming back from His journey. Evening,
midnight, at the rooster crowing or if you don’t have a rooster – in
the morning. Why? Because the servants are supposed to be working
and watching, and not sleeping on the job.
37
What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’”
Jesus
has been talking to those who are followers of His. Some of those
followers are “dyed in the wool believers.” Some just find Him
interesting or entertaining, and some are His enemies. The WARNING
IS TO ALL! “BE ON THE ALERT!” for the Owner, Master, Householder,
Messiah, and Christ – the Son of God returning for His Covenanted
People, Israel, to establish His believing Israelites in their
Promised Land, People, and Kingdom.
And our third Gospel:
Luke 21:34-36
Luke
has been telling about many of the things that will happen during
Jesus’ absence. Chapter 21 is just full of insights and metaphors
about what lays ahead for Israel and the world. In the very
background of these events, we should probably remember three other
periods of time when God tested mankind. First, was from the time
man was created to the fall – and the result was that man was thrown
out of the wonderful land of… the Garden of Eden. They were thrown
out for their failure to believe God and His Word.
Secondly, remember the world and how it evolved from a believing
family, walking with the Lord – to a world totally full of people
who would not turn back to their God. That world was lost to a great
world-wide flood that cleaned the plate, for God to give man another
chance.
Third,
a fresh new world with only 8 believing persons to start, a new
family given through Abraham to produce a “Covenanted Family” placed
on earth to become His Priesthood, mediators to the unbelieving
world. That people largely continued to reject their God and turn to
idols, and to certainly not become the mediators between the people
of the world and God Almighty. They ended up being cast out of their
lands and placed under the rulership of several disciplining nations
– and here they are, still rejecting their God, and now His Son, and
that Son is now speaking to them about the end of their nation and
the discarding of their people – until a great judgment is made upon
them and their Lord returning after being killed by them because
they rejected both Him and His Father.
Now
He’s telling them in Luke’s gospel just how to behave and spend
their remaining time until He returns.
34
“Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with
dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day
will not come on you suddenly like a trap;
35
for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the
earth.
Jesus
was telling His listeners that spending their time thinking and
wondering God’s things: His grace, His love, His care, His people,
and so much more about Him… rather than concentrating on
“dissipation,” wasting your life on earthly pleasurer,
“drunkenness,” which must have been very prevalent during Jesus’
day, and the everyday worries of life – income, relationships with
important people, having things… stuff like that. Focusing your life
on all those things will put you into a position of not being aware
of the Lord, and His plans for you and your people. In doing so… The
Lord’s return will take you by surprise. His verse 35 statement
indicates that, for the most part, the world around you does not
care about God, or His Son’s returning – in fact they just don’t
believe it at all.
36
But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have
strength to escape all these things that are about to take place,
and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Again,
the reminder that Jesus is talking to Israelites, and talking about
His “soon” return to establish their covenanted Kingdom on earth –
something they have been waiting for over 4,000 years – since
Abraham, about 2090 B.C.
Jesus
has been telling them some of the troublesome and terrible things
that will take place between His telling them, and the time He
returns.
He tells them to keep on praying,
specifically that they may have strength to escape all those things,
so that they may end up at His 2nd
coming able to “Stand before the Son of Man,” as they come to Him
and submit themselves to His Majesty as King.
THE MESSAGE TO BELIEVERS
The
message to believers is the same message, but with different
environments. For believers, we are waiting for His return “in the
Air” as He comes to remove His Church from the face of the earth. He
is coming to take us to His Father’s House to be married to Him and
then to enjoy the “Wedding Feast of the Lamb,” where we will be in
joyous jubilation with our “Groom” for this wonderful feast that He
has promised.
So, for
us, we need to be faithful, watchful, encouraged, and enduring. We
need to be His chosen heavenly people who are ready to accompany Him
when He chooses to rescue His Covenanted people (believing Israel)
at the end of the age and ready to minister to His people in
establishing His Kingship in His Kingdom on earth. We will reign
with Him for a thousand years, and never grow old. When the final
judgment comes after the 1000 years, we will be off with Him into
eternity and awaiting the New Earth and the New Heaven, and whatever
He has for us… for ever.
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS
1.
What is the point of God staying faithful to Israel for all
these thousands of years?
2.
What is the importance of the difference between Israel and
the Church?
3.
Why are all non-believers and believers supposed to “pay
attention” to the times?
4.
Who are the people whom the focus is on who are called to
look and pay attention, and why?
FOLLOW-UP
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
1.
What is the point of God staying faithful to Israel for all
these thousands of years?
Israel plays a most important part in showing to the world that He
is a loving, caring and absolutely faithful God. The Fall of mankind
sets the stage to define our God. Just to say that God is faithful
doesn’t really say very much to the men and women of this world.
However, a God who loves, supports, care about, disciplines,
forgives, men and women who have the tendency to become wicked and
evil, endlessly for many thousands of years – is a God whom members
of the world should put their trust and love. His sending His Son to
earth to pay the price for that continuing, eternal forgiveness to
those who would willingly, voluntarily believe that He came here to
do that… completes the grandeur of this God that is absolutely
worthy of our trust, belief, and faith.
2.
What is the importance of the difference between Israel and
the Church?
Before Israel was brought forth through
Abraham, the world was established, mankind fell from God’s Grace,
and was wiped clean except for Noah and his family. God called
Abraham to build a God Covenanted Nation that would bring forth God
and His name to the world. Over the course of a few thousand years
this covenanted nation, Israel, followed the ways of the world and
largely walked away from God, a little at a time, until the arrival
of God’s Son Jesus. It was then that it was proved that even with
the love of God and His continuing grace for a Covenanted people,
that mankind in general would not trust the God of creation. With
the death and resurrection of Jesus came the offer of becoming a
direct family member of God – to become a brother or sister of the
very Son of God – and do it for all eternity. Now, when God calls
and one believes, they become a part of that special family, the
Assembly, the ecclesia, the Church. Israel was given the calling to
become a people, a nation, and a land – The Promised Land of Israel.
The Church was given the calling to become a people whose home would
be mansions in Heaven. Both callings are eternal blessings of God.
Both belong equally to God the Father. Israel, however, will always
be held in “1st place” as those people who were
covenanted (contracted) to become His. They were the Ancients, the
Prophets, the Kings, the testimony, and history that makes up the
Old Testament. The Church are the ones who make up the story of
God’s Son, Jesus, and the people who willingly and voluntarily have
chosen to take HIM as their Savior. Both hold their places for
eternity.
3.
Why are all non-believers and believers supposed to “pay
attention” to the times?
For the unbeliever… the easiest way to say
this is to point to someone who is in prison and sentenced to be
executed. For some, there exists the opportunity for someone to come
along and find the right evidence to offer up a re-trial and be
released from that “death sentence.” If you are an unsaved,
unbelieving person, there is time for you to seek, ask, and knock.
Time to listen to the call of God and respond in belief and faith in
Jesus the Savior. Don’t keep turning away from Him.
For the Christian professor… they are
called to be ones who remain faithful at all occurrences and times
but who have never willingly, voluntarily actually given themselves
to belief and faith in Jesus. If you are one of them…Please use the
admonition to “pay attention” to the world and the times so that you
don’t miss your opportunity to become His in reality. Don’t miss the
Grace and Love of God and the chance to enjoy that relationship for
all of eternity. Don’t wind up in the eternity of the place called
Hell – forever being in torment and suffering.
For the Christian Believer… they are called
to be ones who remain faithful at all occurrences and times –
because that’s the calling of the relationship established by
believing in Jesus, the Son of God Almighty. A calling that
establishes the Holy Spirit of God to physically dwell inside each
believer. You are the very temple of God. Know the times, know the
circumstances of the world around you. Be knowledgeable and ready
for the Son of God to come “in the air” to retrieve you before that
time of great war and tribulation. Be ready, your “bags packed,” for
His taking you to be in Heaven with Him and ready to become His
Bride at the Wedding and Feast of The Lamb! Perhaps He’s coming real
soon!
4.
Who are the people whom the focus is on who are called to
look and pay attention, and why?
The deepest focus in this parable is upon
those who “care” for God’s people. In the context of the parable,
those people are the religious leadership of the nation of Israel.
The King’s, Priests, Scribes, and the organizations of the Pharisees
and Sadducees – and any other’s who sit in the place of Biblical
teachers and professors. They are the ones whom God focuses upon
here – for they have the responsibility of looking after the general
Israelite population.
When put into the context of Church Age
believers it becomes the Pastors, Missionaries, Elders, Deacons,
teachers, professors, leaders, Sunday School teachers, small group
leaders – all those who take part in caring for the Body of Christ
in the local church and worldwide. The New Testament writers often
speak to those who have these relationships because they know that
the general mass of believers doesn’t tend to be quite so deeply
involved with their bibles and paying attention to their walk. Those
who teach and care for the body are specifically called to do just
that – love, care, teach, encourage, and pray for each and every
person under their “care.” Be one of those, Paul tells many of His
people under His care to “look after” their brethren.
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Series Introduction
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Jeremiah 18:15
"Don't stumble from the Ancient Path"
2024-02-14
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